Derby Wargame Weekend 2013

Another excellent weekend at Derby playing games organised by Barry Hilton and co from Warfare Miniatures. Theme was again the War of the Grand Alliance/League of Augsburg/Nine Years War (basically 1689 to 1698.) This time rather than one giant game featuring thousands of figures there were four different games; one set in each of Ireland, Scotland, Flanders and slightly later somewhere in northern Germany where Sweden fought against (amongst others) the Kingdom of Saxony-Poland in the Great Northern War.

Above massed Jacobite cavalry sweep down to try and relieve the siege of Athlone.

Some photos below of the games. Save to say that your very own Les Rumble and Adam Hayes came first and second in the (very non-competitive) scoring over the weekend

My first game was a Great Northern War clash. Gunter's superb and huge Saxon army versus the small but deadly Swedish opposition. The Swede's tore into us, largely disdaining the chevaux-de-fris portable obstacles we had our infantry skulking behind. We just managed to deny them a victory by desperately shoring up the gaps in our defence and a brutal war of attrition that nullified their dangerous cavalry.

The second game I took part in was a ding dong battle in Scotland in 1689. Here our fat was pulled from the fire in the very last turn when a Highland clan unit charged from ambush to destroy a Dutch regiment of foot and open wide the flank of the entire Williamite advance.

The third game was an Irish affair. A  Jacobite army staging a dawn attack on the Williamites besieging Athlone. This was a race to get our regiments in some sort of order and out of the camp before the marauding Jacobites cut their way through us. We held on by the skin of our teeth. I had mixed feelings about this game as some of my newly painted Warfare Miniatures figures were fighting on the other side!

The last game was a version of a retreat scenario after the allied defeat at Neerwinden. We were pressed for time at this stage of the weekend and I didn't like the look of all the pursuing French cavalry pouring over the horizon. My solution was to ruthlessly sacrifice my covering force so that I could make good the escape with the guns and wagons of the rest of the army. At one point I even retreated a regiment with their backs to the enemy. They couldn't resist that temptation and flung their cavalry in! A lot of Dutch Guards died for my plan, but their sacrifice saved the rest of the army.

The French pursuers looking very business-like!

The last bridge to safety. In the distance the doomed Dutch Guards...